Hellen Obiri flies to United Airlines NYC Half course record

Olympic medallists Hellen Obiri of Kenya and Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda won the United Airlines NYC Half on Sunday, both crossing the finish line with comfortable margins of victory. Obiri took the win in 1:07:21, breaking the course record set in 2022 by Ethiopian Senbere Teferi, who finished second on Sunday. Kiplimo used a quick closing 5K to pull away from compatriot Joshua Cheptegei and post a final time of 1:01:31. Canadians Natasha Wodak and Rory Linkletter also raced, finishing as eighth female and 15th male.

Two-time world 5000m champion @hellen_obiri and world cross-country champion @jacobkiplimo2 produced dominant performances at the United Airlines NYC Half on Sunday

🇪🇹’s Amedework Walelegn was a comfortable winner of the Seoul International Marathon in a 2️⃣:0️⃣5️⃣:2️⃣7️⃣ PB 👇

— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) March 19, 2023

A new course record

For the second straight year, the NYC Half saw the women’s course record fall. In 2022, Teferi broke American Molly Huddle‘s course record from 2016 with a winning time of 1:07:35. She came back this year looking to defend her title and potentially lower the record even more, but Obiri refused to let that happen. Obiri owns the fifth-fastest half-marathon result in history, with a PB of 1:04:22, and she showed the rest of the women’s field why she’s one of the all-time greats on Sunday. 

Right from the start of the race, it was clear that either Obiri or Teferi would take home the win in New York. They opened up a sizeable lead early, and proceeded to run almost side by side for more than half the race. They covered the first 5K in 15:50 (at which point they were already 20 seconds ahead of the next-closest runners) and passed through 10K at around 31:30. By 15K, however, Obiri had moved seven seconds ahead of Teferi. 

United airline NYC half marathon winners of the half marathon Helen Obiri 01:07:21 Jacob Kiplimo 01:01:31. pic.twitter.com/0Ei3Ar9eLQ

— Jimmy Ortiz (@JimmyOr40829381) March 19, 2023

Obiri’s lead only continued to grow over the next 6K, and by the end of the race, there was a 34-second gap between her and Teferi. She crossed the line in 1:07:21, taking the win and beating Teferi’s course record by 14 seconds. Teferi finished in second in 1:07:51, and Norway’s Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal crossed the line in third, well back of the top two in 1:09:53. 

Americans Des Linden and Huddle also notched top-10 results, finishing fifth and seventh. Wodak was just behind Huddle in eighth place, posting a final time of 1:12:33. 

Kiplimo’s big win

Kiplimo finished well off his half-marathon world record of 57:31 on Sunday, but he still laid down a dominant performance. Unlike the women’s race, in which Obiri and Teferi took control right away, it took a while for the men to sort out who would take the top few spots. Chris Thompson of the U.K. started off hot, running 15 minutes flat over the first 5K and opening up a 14-second gap over Kiplimo and the rest of the field. The chase group featured Kiplimo, Cheptegei, Linkletter and 15 other men, all of whom were within two seconds of each other. 

By 10K, Thompson’s lead had almost disappeared, and he only had a two-second gap over the chase pack (which still consisted of 16 runners). It was over the next 5K that Kiplimo, Cheptegei and Morocco’s Zouhair Talbi went to work, slowly pulling away from the rest of the field. At the 15K checkpoint, they were a few seconds clear of Kenya’s Edward Cheserek, and the previously tight-knight top 20 had spread out considerably. 

Good news coming in as #Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo won the men's race at the #NYC Half Marathon with 1:01:31, beating his compatriot Joshua Cheptegei.

1. Jacob Kiplimo (UGA) – 1:01:31
2. Joshua Cheptegei (UGA) – 1:02:09

We are so proud of you.@GovUganda @joshuacheptege1#IGAD pic.twitter.com/uHGVzTbbOt

— Tusiime Lucas (@TusiimeLucas) March 19, 2023

Kiplimo made his move between 15K and 20K, dropping Cheptegei and Talbi and building a lead of close to 30 seconds. He eventually crossed the finish line in 1:01:31, 38 seconds ahead of Cheptegei, who held on for second place in 1:02:09. Talbi wasn’t far behind in third, stopping the clock in 1:02:18. The next three runners had a thrilling battle for fourth place, with American Ben True ultimately winning the sprint to the line in 1:02:57. He was followed closely by Cheserek in fifth and the U.K.’s Andrew Butchart in sixth, both of whom recorded 1:02:58 finishes. 

Linkletter finished 15th in a time of 1:04:21, crossing the line ahead of 16th-place Thompson and American Galen Rupp, who was 17th in 1:04:57. For full results from the NYC Half, click here.